11 - Francesco Solimena (circle of)

Francesco Solimena (circle of) Deborah and Barak Black pencil with brown ink highlights on laid paper, 554 x 437 mm The large sheet depicts the Old Testament episode of Deborah and Barak, rendered through a complex and intricate composition dominated by the figure of the prophetess, seated on the left, and that of Barak, in armor and holding a long spear, in the center. Surrounding the main figures is a dense succession of figures, while in the upper part a group of angels emerges from the clouds. The composition reproduces with remarkable fidelity a well-known composition by Francesco Solimena, documented by a painted version of Deborah and Barak dating to the second decade of the 18th century. Particularly significant is not only the similarity in the arrangement of the figures but also that of the format: this sheet, measuring 55 × 44 cm, has proportions nearly identical to those of the painting, which measures 130.2 × 104.5 cm.The technique used is also of particular interest. The sheet was initially sketched in black pencil, then refined and redrawn in pen and brown ink, following a process that lends the composition a particularly polished and meticulous quality. The underlying drawing remains legible in several places and allows one to trace the gradual refinement of the figures, drapery, and details.The graphic success of this specific design is documented by a particularly significant circumstance. Francesco La Marra, in fact, created an engraving based on a drawing by Francesco Solimena—now lost—faithfully reproducing the figures in the composition. This fact is noted by Cristiana Romalli in the catalog of Solimena’s drawings (see C. Romalli, in N. Spinosa, Francesco Solimena (1657–1747) and the Arts in Naples, 2018, vol. II, pp. 206–207, D87). The documented existence of a now-lost graphic prototype by Solimena, used as a model for the subsequent engraving, makes this sheet particularly significant in the context of the composition’s genesis and reception.Its considerable size, the fully developed nature of the composition, and the meticulous rendering of the individual figures also find parallels in Solimena’s graphic output, which includes large compositional sheets known to have been used for the study and refinement of complex pictorial compositions.In light of these elements, the drawing constitutes a document of considerable interest within the context of Solimena’s graphic culture in the first half of the 18th century. Its relationship to the lost drawing by Solimena mentioned in the sources and used for La Marra’s engraving presents a critical issue worthy of further investigation and lends the sheet particular historical and collectible interest. It bears the inscription “Solimena” in the lower right corner.Comparative bibliography: C. Romalli, in N. Spinosa, Francesco Solimena (1657–1747) and the Arts in Naples, Rome 2018, vol. II, pp. 206–207, D87.